Junta forces retreat as escalating clashes with Arakan Army continue across Ayeyarwady Region

Clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and junta forces have intensified in Ayeyarwady’s Lemyethna, Yegyi, and Ngathaingchaung townships this week, sources told Myanmar Now.Much of the fighting has broken out along the Gwa–Ngathaingchaung Road—a key route linking the Rakhine Hills (Rakhine Yoma) to Ayeyarwady Region—with junta troops reportedly retreating, according to residents and resistance sources.“When the military was defeated, they asked to recruit the soldiers in the surrounding villages and asked the villagers to send the food to the front lines area,” a resistance source told Myanmar Now. After the AA and its allies launched coordinated attacks on the villages of Wut Kone, San Kone, Tone Taw, and Shar Taw Su in Lemyethna Township in early March, the junta has responded with daily airstrikes across the area. After being pushed back, the junta forces regrouped with local militias and took up position in Pan Taw Gyi village, east of the Pathein–Monywa Road. Yet they were forced to retreat once more on April 17 after coming under attack from the AA and other allied forces. The junta and its militias have occupied a monastery in Pan Taw Gyi village and a restaurant. The military has been using these locations as bases to launch daily artillery fire against the resistance. Following renewed attacks, resistance forces have started retreating approximately three miles from the village, according to a resident of Pan Taw Gyi. “On the night of April 17, a raid forced the junta troops to retreat,” the resident told Myanmar Now. “As they withdrew about three miles, they increased their shelling. They shot those on guard outside, resulting in deaths. The junta artillery battalion also had vehicles on standby to evacuate them quickly.” On April 18, the junta launched airstrikes on Pan Taw Gyi, starting a fire which destroyed more than half of the homes in the area, including the village monastery. The village, home to over 500 households, was severely impacted, according to the Pan Taw Gyi resident. “On April 18 (New Year’s Day), the airstrikes and shelling began again around 9 or 10 a.m. and continued without pause,” the resident explained. “As of April 29, the attacks are still ongoing, and the entire village has been destroyed.” Following their retreat from Pan Taw Gyi, junta forces have taken up positions in Si Son Kone village, located near the Ngawun River Bridge across from Lemyethna Town. Meanwhile, troops have also deployed along the stretch between Pan Taw Gyi and Lemyethna Town, according to residents. Fighting between the AA and junta troops has forced tens of thousands of residents to flee three villages in the Pan Taw Gyi village tract — Myo Kone, Kyauk Sit Kone, and Ma Gyi Pin Kwin. The villages sit east of the Pathein-Monywa Road. Military forces have pulled back to a position about two miles from Lemyethna town. Beginning in January, the AA and other allied forces captured Ma Gyi Zin, Baw Mi, and several smaller junta outposts along the Rakhine coast, before advancing into Ayeyarwady Region. Anti-junta forces have since launched attacks on Light Infantry Battalion 308 and Artillery Battalion 344 in Thabaung Township — a strategic area for controlling the Gwa–Ngathaingchaung Road. Amid mounting losses in the Rakhine Hills and Ayeyarwady Region, junta forces have shut down the Yae Nant Thar checkpoint on the Gwa–Ngathaingchaung Road and blockaded the western bank of the Ngawun River, a resistance fighter told Myanmar Now. “It’s the ‘four cuts’ strategy,” the source said, referencing a longstanding military strategy to isolate anti-military forces by targeting access to food, funds, intelligence, and recruits.“There are strict restrictions on supplies,” he said. “People are allowed to carry only a week’s worth of rice and oil per person. Worst of all, transporting fuel to areas west of Lemyethna has been completely banned.” Clashes have also erupted near Ingapu town at the Tatmadaw Higher Military Training School (Ta Ka Ka) 5, prompting the junta to form a local People's Security group and forcibly conscript residents, the resistance source said. "They are currently 24 miles from Hinthada Town," he added."In addition, they’re reinforcing Artillery Battalion 344 in Myauk San and are demanding that each village supply 20 to 30 people." Fighting is also ongoing near the village of Nyaung Kyoe in Bago Region’s Padaung Township and in parts of Ayeyarwady Region, an AA spokesperson told Myanmar Now. Junta forces are suffering heavy losses and retreating along the Gwa–Ngathaingchaung Road, as their key hilltop base, the Myauk San Artillery Battalion, is limited to a defensive stance, Captain Zin Yaw, a military analyst and former Army captain who deserted after the the 2021 coup. "They had to retreat to Pan Taw Gyi in the Lemyethna area," he added.The junta council has not issued any reports on the clashes in Ayeyarwady Region so far.After junta forces blocked intersections along the Gwa–Ngathaingchaung Road, the Yegyi Township People’s Defence Force warned civilians to avoid the area unless in an emergency. The restrictions signal growing instability along key transport routes as anti-junta groups gain ground and the junta scrambles to tighten control. "In Myauk San, Artillery Battalion 344 is now forced to take up defensive positions in every direction,” Captain Zin Yaw said. “As of now, all their security outposts outside of the bases have been abandoned."

Junta forces retreat as escalating clashes with Arakan Army continue across Ayeyarwady Region

Increased fighting along the Gwa–Ngathaingchaung Road forces military withdrawal, while triggering displacement in many villages

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